April 1998

Mogae

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Botswana: Vice President and Finance Minister Festus Mogae is sworn in as president, after Sir Ketumile Masire retired on March 31. Ponatshego Kedikilwe is appointed to replace Mogae as finance minister. On April 3 Ian Khama is nominated as vice president.Ecuador: Pedro Aguayo Cubillo is named vice president.

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Oskanyan

Tarasyuk

Armenia: Robert Kocharyan is inaugurated as president. On April 10 he appoints Armen Darbinyan as prime minister. Vartan Oskanyan becomes foreign minister and Edvard Sandoyan finance minister in the cabinet named on April 20.Ukraine: Foreign Minister Hennadiy Udovenko resigns. On April 17 President Leonid Kuchma names Borys Tarasyuk as new foreign minister.

10

Nepal: Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa resigns. On April 12 Girija Prasad Koirala is appointed prime minister. He is sworn in April 15, heading a three-member cabinet in which he holds 25 portfolios, including foreign affairs and defense. Ram Sharan Mahat is finance minister. On April 18 Koirala wins a confidence vote, gaining 144 votes in the 205-member parliament.

Koirala

Russia: The State Duma rejects Sergey Kiriyenko as prime minister. He receives only 143 votes in the 450-seat chamber. On April 17 he is rejected a second time, getting only 115 votes. In a third vote on April 24, he is confirmed with 251 votes.Vietnam: Former foreign minister (1980-91) Nguyen Co Thach dies.

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Germany: In state elections in Sachsen-Anhalt, the Social Democratic Party of Minister-President Reinhard Höppner wins 35.9% (47 of 116 seats), the Christian Democratic Union 22% (28 seats), the Party of Democratic Socialism 19.6% (25 seats), the German People's Union 12.9% (16 seats), the Free Democratic Party 4.2%, and the Greens 3.2%. Turnout is 71.7%.

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Faeroe Islands: The Republican Party wins 23.8% in parliamentary elections, followed by the Social Democrats with 21.9%, the People's Party with 21.3%, the Coalition Party with 18%, and others with 15%. Turnout is 85.7%.